Martino Piazza, 'Saint John the Baptist in the Desert', 1513-22
About the work
Overview
In this unusual scene, Saint John the Baptist crouches in a dark rocky grotto beside a spring from which he collects water. His slender cross, faintly painted in gold, can just be seen in the shadows behind him.
The painting is signed with a monogram: the letters MPP are surmounted by a T; a small drop hangs from each end of the cross-bar of the T, and its stem passes between a pair of wings. This is thought to be the monogram of Martino Piazza from Lodi, near Milan.
The delicate, graceful physique of the Baptist, the atmospheric effects in the mountainous landscape and the dramatic contrasts of light and dark, known as chiaroscuro, show the influence of the Milanese works of Leonardo da Vinci and his followers. Influences from artists from north of the Alps can also be detected in the luminous landscape, which is depicted with minute attention to naturalistic detail.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Saint John the Baptist in the Desert
- Artist
- Martino Piazza
- Artist dates
- active about 1513 - 1522
- Date made
- 1513-22
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 69.2 × 52.1 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1883
- Inventory number
- NG1152
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1888E.T. Cook, A Popular Handbook to the National Gallery Including, by Special Permission, Notes Collected from the Works of Mr. Ruskin, London 1888
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1889National Gallery, Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of the Pictures in the National Gallery with Biographical Notices of the Painters: Foreign Schools, London 1889
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1929National Gallery, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square: Catalogue, 86th edn, London 1929
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1950A.M. Romanino, 'Note sui fratelli Albertino e Martino Piazza da Lodi', Bollettino d'arte, 1950, pp. 123-30
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1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
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1960G. Morelli, Italienische Malerie der Renaissance: Im Briefwechsel von Giovanni Morelli und Jean Paul Richter, 1876-1891, ed. I.A. Richter, Baden Baden 1960
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1961M. Davies, The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd edn, London 1961
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1985C.T. Dowd, 'The Travel Diary of Otto Mündler', The Walpole Society, LI, 1985
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1986Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
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1987M. Gregori (ed.), Pittura tra Adda e Serio: Lodi, Treviglio, Caravaggio, Crema, Milan 1987
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1988F. Zeri, 'Una scheda per Albertino e Martino Piazza', in Giorno per giorno nella pittura: Scritti sull'arte dell' Italia settentrionale dal Trecento al primo Cinquecento, Turin 1988
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1989G.C. Sciolla, I Piazza da Lodi (exh. cat. Museo Civico, Chiesa di San Cristoforo, Tempio dell'Incoronata, 7 October - 17 December 1989), Lodi 1989
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.